In the last several months we have seen a significant increase in resume without dates. When asked about the lack of dates the job candidates have usually said they heard or read somewhere that they weren’t necessary.

Let’s clear this up right now, in the restaurant industry DATES ARE A REQUIRED part of your resume!

Recruiters want to see where you’ve been, when you were there, and how long were you in position.

Resumes without dates suggest a number of things, none of which are good, with the two worst case scenarios being:

• You are a job hopper, you know it and you are trying to hide it.
• You have been out of the restaurant industry for sometime and are trying to hide this from the recruiter.

Listen up Restaurant Managers, leaving dates off your resume will NOT improve — and can actually reduce — your chance of getting an interview so make sure you list your dates of employment next to each position.

By the way, any of the following date variations is fine:

• 1/99 to 12/10
• 1/1999 to 12/2010
• Jan. 1999 to Dec. 2010
• January 1999 to December 2010